Another Vehicle Struck By Falling Debris From Subway Station In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - For the second time in two weeks, a piece of debris fell from an elevated subway and crashed down on a vehicle below.
The car was occupied and in motion at the time of the incident on Wednesday, according to Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer.
Van Bramer posted pictures of a rusted piece of metal which struck the vehicle this time, possibly from a staircase that goes over the street.
"What the hell is going on here," Van Bramer wrote on Twitter. "No one was injured but someone is going to get killed here @MTA!"
The roughly 10" by 8.5" piece of metal fell around noon.
Subway riders, pedestrians and drivers around the station were terrified to hear the news.
"I guess we have to wear helmets now," one pedestrian joked.
"No one in New York City should have to live like that," Van Bramer told CBS2.
It's the second time something's fallen from the station in two weeks. On Feb. 21, a wooden plank from the elevated 7 train platform came crashing down on a car travelling near 65th and Roosevelt Avenue. The plank pierced the windshield, landing just inches from the driver.
A spokesman for the MTA says they can't say for certain if the two situations are similar. The agency is wondering if a piece of metal broke loose after a truck hit the elevated structure at some point Tuesday.
Van Bramer says he's failed to get answers from the MTA about even the initial incident.
The MTA launched an investigation into that incident and announced that every inch of elevated track - 188 miles in three boroughs - would be inspected. Those inspections were completed Feb. 28, and the subways and tracks deemed safe.
"I was told that MTA has been out here and declared the structure sound and safe. I don't know how anybody could come to that conclusion after the last two weeks with these things falling and what happened here today," Van Bramer said. "And I don't know why at a minimum, at a minimum, the MTA couldn't come here today and erect netting... it's a ticking time bomb."
The MTA called the pattern "obviously very concerning."
"We take the safety of our customers, employees and neighbors very seriously – what this material is and where it came from is under investigation," the agency said in a statement Wednesday.
Van Bramer is calling their bluff.
"I have a hard time believing that a truck just happened to hit the 7 train and what, knocked all this loose?" he said. "We cannot afford to be here in two weeks' time with another piece of debris falling that, God forbid, hurts or kills somebody."
